The Power of Sacrifice
by pantera-tease
Summary: Curently being revised. AU. Grimmjow is sent to protect a girl until she comes of age to marry his Mafia family's Boss. He was sent with 3 rules; Do not let her be harmed, do not touch her, and do not let her die. He breaks 2 out of 3. Grimmhime.
1. Promotion

The Arrancar family has been at the top of the Mafia world for centuries, having 10 of the most gifted people in the art of killing as his immediate subordinates, Sosuke Aizen was well known as the King of Mafia. With their homestead and main base in Spain, they had an impregnable fortress and an unbeatable force that was not to be reckoned with. Aizen, with his second in command, Gin, waited in the meeting room for the group of 10 assassins, known as The Espada, to show up for the briefing on the latest news. One by one they arrived, sitting in their designated seats at the conference table that sat dead center in the huge, expensively decorated meeting room. With everyone present, Aizen began his collection of news that needed to be shared.

"Hello everyone, welcome back. I see that you are all happy as ever. As you are all well aware, none of the other families have had any complaints about our family, seeing that they would be horribly crushed if they did, so we are still at the top of the game. As usual. We did have a problem though with some of the businesses that weren't able to pay their monthly dues and were taken care of accordingly by our lovely Nnoitra."

A skinny man with long straight black hair, an eye patch, and abnormally huge teeth began to laugh. "Those pathetic bastards didn't stand a chance against me, because I am the strongest!" He said with a song in his heart. Some of the people scoffed, while others just rolled their eyes and ignored him. With him being done with his outburst, Aizen continued.

"With that aside, there is really nothing else for me to report at this moment." There were a few confused looks about the room and some were just anxious to get the hell out of there.

"Sir, if I may ask, if that was all you were going to tell us then why did you even call us here?" Another man with shoulder length, bubble gum pink hair and glasses said.

"Ah, as sharp as ever, Szayel Apporro. In fact, there is something else I do need to share with you all." Aizen leaned forward on the table, resting his chin on his hand. "The thing is, I am engaged and to be married soon." That statement raised a few eyebrows.

"...We didn't know that you were even dating, Sir..." The only woman in the room said, she was tan with short spiked blonde hair, long and beaded in a few places, and she was VERY well endowed.

"Well... I wasn't, Harribel." Aizen just sat there with a smirk.

"Then how the fuck could you be engaged? Mail-order?" Nnoitra questioned.

"Imbecile..." a short man that's skin was white as paper, shaggy jet-black hair and tear marks tattooed on his face remarked.

"What was that Ulquiorra? You want a fight? I'll beat your ass, pussy." Nnoitra spat out vehemently. Ulquiorra didn't even seem to give him the light of day.

"Settle down Nnoitra, there will be no fighting amongst ourselves." Aizen ordered with a trace of bitterness in his tone.

"Anyways, Sir, could you continue explaining this engagement?" Harribel asked, trying to get back on track.

"Ah, yes, that. You see, there was once a family, the Fabre Family, which was very close in ranking to us and very powerful as well, it is a mystery but somehow that family was entirely wiped out years ago with no survivors. When the family was still around, there were plans to join that family with this one so that there would be one powerful family reigning over all, but with the family gone, those plans were forgotten. Although, it seems there has been a girl found with the blood of that family alive. The higher ups took note of this and decided to carry on with the plans and have her marry me and become an ally, which I see as pointless since there is no one else but her remaining. The girls' name is Orihime Inoue and she is currently a resident in Karakura Town, Japan."

Aizen picked up a small remote and clicked a button that made a monitor appear behind a painting. A picture of a young girl with long, sunset colored hair and a happy smile appeared.

"Anyway, this girl has not become of age yet and if the other families that either have grudges against us or just hate us find out, they will most likely try to kill that girl. So, as of today, one of you will be assigned as her personal bodyguard until she comes of age."

It certainly looked like no one was going to volunteer for the job, from all the un-enthused looks. They were all top scoring, elite killers, none of them wanted to babysit a teenage girl, and they probably weren't going to get paid.

"Oh pick me! Pick me! That bitch is fucking HOT!" 9 out of 12 sighed from Nnoitras' comment.

"Alright, now I know who to keep her far away from..." this gained a few laughs hidden under breath and a pissed off pervert known as Nnoitra.

"Actually, I have already assigned one of you for the job." This news set everyone on edge, if they were picked they would most likely kill themselves before the job was done.

"Grimmjow, you start tomorrow." Aizen announced.

"WHAT?" A man with spiked cyan hair and eyes bluer than the sky itself stood with his hands on the table, his chair scratching against the floor as it flew backwards. "Why me? To hell with this job, it ain't me!" he complained in utter disbelief.

"Are you refusing to follow my orders, Grimmjow? I'm sure you're well aware of the consequences of that." Grimmjow clicked his tongue and sunk back into his chair, defeated.

"Alright, all of you are dismissed, Grimmjow, you stay after for your briefing on your newest job." Everyone except Grimmjow stood and walked out of the room.

Nnoitra walked past Grimmjow and slowed his pace. "Have fun being a babysitter, Grimmjow~" He patted his head.

"Eat me, asshole." Grimmjow swung a punch and Nnoitra dodged it successfully.

"Now, Grimmjow. There are only 3 things you need to follow on this mission. One: Do not let her be harmed, not even a scratch. Two: Do not touch her, she is not yours to marry but mine. And Three: you must absolutely, at all costs, not let her die. Understand?" Aizen waited for a response.

"...Yeah, fine, whatever..." He was still pouting about being picked.

"Good, now go and pack your things, you leave at sunrise."

**XXXXXXX**

_The next day, late afternoon._

Orihime was the captain of the high schools cheerleading team and she had been dating Ichigo, quarterback of the football team, for a couple months now. Since he was a football player and she was a cheerleader it was fated for them to be together, and she really did like Ichigo, he was kind and sweet and quite strong. But they hadn't gone "_all the way_" because she was scared, and she didn't feel like she was ready for that kind of commitment, she was only in high school anyway.

It was Friday, which meant date night, and Orihime and Ichigo went to his house after a movie.

"Orihime, what are you looking for?" Ichigo asked with a confused look on his face, he was tall with short, spiked orange hair and brown eyes, his hair caught a lot on unwanted attention but he was strong enough to defend himself if trouble came his way.

Orihime was digging through his refrigerator with determination. "I'm looking for the horse radish or mustard..." she stood up with her hands on her hips frustrated.

"_To put on your ice cream_?"

She looked at him with pouting lips, "It adds to the flavor..."

He scratched the back of his head, "I don't think I'll ever understand your eating habits." With that he went to sit on the couch and waited for her. They sat in silence and watched television, cuddling like your ordinary couple. After a while, Ichigo turned his head and kissed her neck, moving up to her ear.

"I want you... Orihime."

She fidgeted and leaned back a little, a blush growing across her face. "I...I'm still not ready for that yet..."

Ichigo leaned back against the sofa. "Ugh... This relationship is getting nowhere, I'm tired of waiting."

Orihime frowned and got a little angry. "Are you unhappy with me? Just because I won't _put out_? Is that it?"

Ichigo sighed. "No, I'm not unhappy with you, it's just that we've been dating for 3 months and it's about time that we have sex."

She stood with her arms crossed, "I'll be ready when I'm ready..."

Ichigo stood too, "I wouldn't be pressuring you like this if you weren't such a tease!"

He immediately regretted saying that. Orihime looked taken aback, her mouth hanging open and tears welling in her eyes. She turned around and stormed out of the living room, grabbing her things and heading for the door, she didn't stop when he was rushing after her; she opened the door and ran.

After a couple minutes she slowed down to a walk, he only lived a couple blocks away from her apartment complex and she loved the night air, it helped her calm down. She had started to feel distant from Ichigo, but she never knew he would take it that far. She shook her head and wiped away the tears streaming down her face, she had to be strong or she'd never survive, it was tough living alone, she didn't need any more problems.

It was only another block to her apartment, where she would wrap up in a fuzzy blanket, with garlic bread and bean paste, and watch whatever soap opera was on at this time of night.

But something felt odd, it felt as if someone was watching her, she thought it was probably Ichigo coming to talk to her. She turned around to tell him to go away, but all she could see where two huge men closing in on her, and fast. She didn't think it was best to stop and ask them about the weather, so she turned back around and quickened her pace, she could hear footsteps behind her falling faster. She began to sprint in a dead run, but before she could turn the corner, another man appeared from an alleyway and grabbed her, almost knocking her down from the force.

The others caught up and one with scars all over his face grabbed her chin and brought her face up close to his. She could smell the alcohol and tobacco in his breath, she wanted to puke.

"Is this the bitch?" the one holding her said.

"Sure looks like it, fuck she's hot. You wanna mess around with her a little bit?" He hooked his finger in the collar of her shirt and pulled down an inch, she started kicking and thrashing trying to get out of the other's grip.

The third one finally spoke. "No, you had your fun with the other two girls we caught on the way here." Orihime turned pale. "It's better to just get this over and done with."

The one in front of her grunted, "Fine, though it's such a waste." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a butterfly knife. Her eyes widened and she froze. "Now, be a good little girly and don't scream, or I'll cut your tongue out first." He brought the knife close up to her neck, making a small cut in the flesh, she was choking for air, squeezing her eyes shut and hoping that it was just a bad dream and would all go away.

She heard a crash, but payed no attention to it.

"What the fuck?" The man holding the knife turned around just in time to be sent flying back and crashing into the wall of the building behind him. The man that was holding her pulled out a knife of his own and also pushed it against her throat.

"You come near me and this bitch dies." The vigilante took a step back and put his hands up in surrender.

"Who the fu-" midway through his sentence, the vigilante reach behind his back and pulled out a gun at a speed that she couldn't even follow and shot the man holding her square between the eyes, then pointed the gun and shot the other two men without even turning his head before the first even fell to the ground.

With Orihime being free, she lurched over on her hands and knees, weak from the adrenaline rush and felt as if she was going to be sick on the sidewalk. She saw a hand come into her field of vision and took it for support. Once she stood on wobbly legs, she followed the hand to the arm, the arm to the shoulder, the shoulder to the neck, and the neck to the face of her savior.

Her first thought was _'He's definitely not a local..._' when she saw the cyan hair and bright blue eyes, and judging from his clothes, dark jeans, a black shirt and a leather jacket, he seemed like a normal person. Although a normal person couldn't move like a ninja, or kill people without a second thought.

"You're Orihime Inoue, right?" he asked her, she snapped out of her trance, and not feeling up to it to talk, she nodded. "Good." She blinked a couple times, since when did she become so popular amongst strangers? "Starting now, I am your personal bodyguard."

_...Say what?_

* * *

><p><em>So I read through this again months after I wrote this and my first reaction was to bang my head on the table from how horribly it was written. I don't think I've ever been so disappointed with myself before in my entire life. <em>

_But it's okay, because it's being re-written! When it's finished, then and only then shall I update with a new chapter._

_And I apologize fully for the wait on this story, I got a bit too wrapped up in the Hetalia fandom._

_Please be patient with me!_


	2. Discussion

"So I'm a...descendant of a powerful mafia, the flavor family?"

"Fabre."

"Right… and I'm engaged to the boss of another family because I'm a descendant of... that other family?"

"That's obviously what I've been saying for the past two hours..."

"Well, it still seems unbelievable... Gromm... Grain...?"

"Grimmjow."

"Right, sorry..."

Grimmjow and Orihime sat at her kitchen table at 2 o'clock in the morning, sitting across from each other. This girl was beginning to get on his nerves. How dense could she be? She should be grateful that he got there in time to save her ass.

"How old are you?" He thought that he might as well find out how long he has to deal with this. He watched as she tapped her chin thoughtfully. _'She really has to think about it?'_ he heaved a big sigh.

"I'm seventeen."

Grimmjow's shoulders relaxed, "And how much longer until your next birthday?"

She started counting on her fingers. "A little more than six months?"

_'Fuuuuuccccckkkkkk, half a year...'_ Although, from looking around her apartment, there weren't any signs of another person living here. So she lives alone.

As he was looking around the kitchen, he noticed that she was staring at him with pout on her lips and her brows drawn together. "...What?"

She jumped and blushed, looking away in embarrassment. "Um... It's just that... Um..." she stood up and clapped her hands together. "Oh my gosh, would you look at the time? I have to go to bed so that I can get up in time to go to school tomorrow! Well I guess I'll see you in the morning!"

He stood up and followed her. "Tomorrow's Saturday."

She froze. "Oh...Yeah... Right. Haha..." She then turned to face him. "But I need to go to sleep anyway! I have a busy day tomorrow! You can just um... Sleep on the couch! Good night!" She bolted and slammed her door behind her.

He just stared at the door for a couple moments, what a weird girl. Alas, he turned and sat on the lone couch, this house was barren. Though it seemed good enough for a girl who lived alone. He didn't sleep that night, if the girl was attacked during his first night on the job, there was a good chance it would happen again.

**XXXXXXX**

Orihime woke up the next morning to sun shining through her window, she sat up and stretched, feeling relaxed. She got up, took a shower, got dressed and left her room to find some breakfast. She walked through her living room to the kitchen, pulling out the bread, carrots, cheese, ketchup, Jell-O, and pickles.

She turned around and crashed into a warm, built chest. Screaming, she jumped back and grabbed the first thing she could get her hands on as a weapon… Which was a spatula.

"Calm down! It's just me." recognition hit her like a frying pan to the back of the head, and all the memories from the night before came flooding back to her. "Do NOT sneak up on me like that!" she was waving the spatula in the air. "I could've killed you!"

Doubt it. He raised his eyebrows in amusement. "I'll be sure to remember that next time." He looked over her shoulder to all the food spread out on the counter. "Is that... what you're eating?"

She blushed and looked around nervously. "Uh... yes?" She always got weird looks and remarks on her eating habits, she should be used to it by now. But he was the first to not say anything; he just shrugged and went back to his own business. It made her feel good, in the short time they've known each other, and he didn't treat her like a ditzy, cute and innocent little girl like everyone else she met did.

She made her food concoction, but before she took a bite she realized that she didn't offer her guest any breakfast. "Hey um... Grimmjow?" She went hunting for him and found him on the couch. "Do you want anything to eat?"

He leaned back and threw his arms behind his head. "I already ate. You're going to need to buy another box of Pop-tarts."

She thought for a moment. "But... that was a brand new box."

He grinned. "I know."

Okay, so he had a big appetite, nothing she couldn't handle. She was just about to get back to eating when there was a knock on her door. Who on earth could be visiting her on a Saturday at 8 o'clock in the morning? As she headed for the door, Grimmjow stood up and followed behind her. "Uh, what are you doing?"

He crossed his arms over his chest. "My job."

She thought for a moment then passed it off to just ignore him. She finally reached the door and swung it open, only to see the visitor she really didn't want to see and at the worst possible time.

"Um... Hi, Ichigo."

He was standing on her doorstep with a sad expression on his face. "Hey, Orihime. I'm just stopping by to try and apologize for-" His eyes went from her face to over her shoulder. "Who's this guy?"

She whizzed around to see Grimmjow standing about an inch behind her with a challenging smirk plastered on his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know." He quipped, pushing past her to get in Ichigo's face. They stood nose to nose, one with a huge grin on his face and the other with a murderous glint in his eyes.

"That is why I asked, obviously."

"Wise ass."

"Shit for brains."

"Okay! Enough of that!" Orihime squeezed in between the two, trying the break the fight up, it was like throwing in a kitten to stop a fight between two wolves.

"Orihime, who is this guy?" Ichigo looked down at her, his voice a little louder than it should be.

"Oh, him? Oh he's uh, um... He's uh... He's a cousin! Twice removed on my aunt's husband's ex-wife's sister-in-law's side!" Both of the men present stared at her like she had sprouted a second head.

It didn't look like Ichigo believed it for a second. "If that's true, then why is he here?"

She was running out of excuses and time so she spat out; "He's here because he's on a business trip and it was cheaper just to stay with me!" Ichigo turned back to glaring at Grimmjow, who was sending back a look just as ugly.

"Ichigo, I thought you said you came here to talk to me. So forget about him!" She tried to shove him back inside and he let her push him, closing the door behind him.

She took Ichigo's hand and led him off to the side. "I don't like him..." She expected as much.

"So...What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Suddenly, Ichigo grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in, wrapping his arms around her. "Orihime, I'm sorry for what I said and how things turned out last night. I wasn't myself. I still want to be with you. Do you forgive me?"

She didn't know what to say, she had a lot on her plate now judging from what Grimmjow said, if it was true. But she didn't want to leave Ichigo; she did care for him, truly. "Of course I forgive you, Ichigo. And I want to be with you too."

He smiled brightly. "That's great! So do you want to do something this weekend or-"

She stuttered. "Oh! Um, I promised my cousin that I would um... take him sight-seeing so I'm booked all weekend!"

Ichigo's mood changed immediately to the dark side. "I'm not too sure I like that idea..."

She giggled and hugged him tightly, "Oh stop worrying he's just a cousin!"

He laughed and pulled her closer. "Fine, just come to me if he tries anything funny." He leaned down and kissed her like they never had any problems the night before. "I'll text you later." and he left with a wave.

She walked back into her apartment only to meet the chest, again. "Who was that little punk?"

She sighed. "That was my boyfriend." She saw something flash across his face so fast she almost missed it.

"If he pisses me off again, I will kill him."

What really scared her was that she knew he could actually do it. She ignored is comment and gave a shaky laugh. "Ah! My breakfast is getting cold!"

She ran around him towards the kitchen, then she got that sickening feeling again, the one she had when she noticed those men were following her the night before.

"Get down!"

Everything started to slow down around her as she heard glass shatter and went crashing to the floor. Everything went silent and her vision blurred; all she could feel was the protective body covering hers and a warm, thick liquid running down her side.


	3. Hospital Visit

_Alright, for some reason my author comments got cut off on the last chapter so I'm putting them here:_

_Cliffhanger! Mwahahahaha!_

_...That is all._

* * *

><p><strong>The Power of Sacrifice<strong>

Chapter 3: Hospital Visit

"Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod!" She jumped up and down, waving her arms frantically.

"Would you calm down? It's just a flesh wound."

"The bullet is still in there!" She almost fainted from just saying it.

"It's my arm, not yours!" Grimmjow gritted his teeth, holding his left bicep, blood oozing through his fingers. He'd been shot before but _DAMN_, it still hurt like a bitch. Only his second day on the job and he'd already been shot. Fucking Fabulous. And yes, the bullet was still lodged in his arm, just icing on the cake. He needed to get to a hospital, that is, if he could get the girl across from him that was currently having a breakdown to stop and take a breath.

"Ohmygod I have blood on me! That's so gross! Someone just shot at us! My window's broken! Why are people shooting at us? Why-"

"Orihime."

"-are they coming after me? What am I going to do? Should I go to the police? How am I going to-"

"Orihime."

"-get that blood out of my floor? I have school! And cheerleading! Why can't you gangsters just leave me alone? Ah! My window! I can't pay for that!  
>What if birds fly into my house-?"<p>

"ORIHIME." She stopped and looked at him, tears streaming down her face.

"Hos-pit-al."

Something seemed to click in her mind and she jumped into action. She ran into her room, throwing on a jacket and a pair of snow boots, even though it was almost the end of spring. Sprinting, she grabbed her purse and got behind him, pushing him to the door. "What are you doing just standing there? We need to go! Get a move on!" Perhaps, while they were at the hospital, they could have the girl checked for bipolar disorder.

**XXXXXXX**

"You lost a little too much blood, so I need you to take this medicine so that you don't become anemic. Also, rub this solution over your stitches once a day to prevent infection. Be aware that if you move your arm to much, the stitches could tear and your wound could re-open. Now, I'm going to ask, exactly, how did you get shot in the arm in broad daylight on a Saturday?" The doctor was looking at them both with a slightly amused look on his had been at the hospital for an hour now and during the time, Orihime was able to come up with a perfect excuse as to why her "_twice removed on her aunts' husbands' ex-wifes' sister-in-laws' side who had a business trip in town and it was just cheaper to stay with her instead of buying a hotel room._" cousin had a bullet stuck in his arm.

"There was an accident at a brand new gun testing facility and somehow the bullet managed to hit him while we were in the store across the street!"

The doctor awarded her a blank stare while Grimmjow closed his eyes and shook his head. They really needed to work on her excuses.

"...Uh-huh. Well, young man, be sure to steer clear from the _'brand new gun testing facility_' for a while. You can go home now."

Grimmjow stood and put on his jacket, being sure to move his arm carefully. "Thanks Doc."

Orihime put on a bright smile and turned to the doctor. "Thank you for taking care of my cousin." He smiled back and ushered them out of the emergency room.

**XXXXXXX**

On their way back from the hospital, Orihime pulled out her phone and noticed she had 3 missed calls and a voicemail, all from Ichigo. _"Where are you? I've been calling but you won't answer! Call me when you get this."_

"Don't call him back."

Orihime jumped and looked up at her bodyguard. "Why not?"

He glanced down at her and kept walking. "From what I heard of your conversation this morning, he seems to be the picture perfect asshole."

Orihime blushed three different shade of red. "Were you spying on us?" She didn't get an answer.

"And Ichigo is _not_ a...What you said. He is a very sweet guy, everyone loves him."

Grimmjow scoffed. "Do you?"

She stopped walking, did she love Ichigo? "I... I don't know." She didn't know. You would think that after 3 months she would feel something for him, but she couldn't really say that she did. The thought made her sad, she began to think that everything in the past 3 months was for nothing, because she hardly felt anything for him. Yes, she enjoyed his company and liked being around him. But that was pretty much it.

Grimmjow turned around when he didn't hear her following him and saw her standing still with tears falling to the pavement.

'_Shit…'_ He walked back to her, "I didn't mean to make you upset, just forget I asked."_ 'Nice going, genius.'_ He thought to himself. This teenager really didn't need anything else on her plate, and he just made her cry. He was being a horrible bodyguard, but what did Aizen expect? He wasn't cut out for this kind of thing. This was a job for someone who was a mute, indestructible, and had no emotions whatsoever. Like Ulquiorra, for instance.

"Grimmjow?" He looked down to see her saddened expression with fresh tears in her eyes. Something inside of him wanted to stop her crying, a girl like that should always have a smile on her beautiful face without any sadness in her heart. _'What the hell?_' He pushed the thought aside, which was not a good thought. _'Bad, bad Grimmow. Not your property, your bosses, not yours, your bosses.'_ "What?"

She wiped a stray tear off her cheek. "Is your boss, my fiancé, a nice guy?"

Well, he certainly wouldn't call him nice. He may act like it, but behind that gentle smile was an evil beast that would stop at nothing for more power. "He will treat you as if you were a queen." He felt like bending over and coughing up the bland hospital Jell-O he had earlier, he had never said anything so sappy in his life, and he never wanted to do it again. Although, it seemed to do the trick.

"A queen? Really?"

He could see the blush creeping across her face. _'How cute... NO! Not cute! Son of a bitch!'_

She started walking again. "Queen sounds nice." The blank expression on her face told him that she was off in her own world now.

They continued their walk back to her house in silence, her daydreaming and him scolding himself for letting his mind think bad thoughts. That was too close, who knows what the punishment would be if he went against Aizen's orders. Whatever it was, it wouldn't be pretty. He needed to blow off some steam, and the orange haired pretty boy that was currently standing on Orihime's front porch was a perfect target for a couple well aimed punches.

* * *

><p><em>Oh no! Is Grimmjow starting to feel things for Orihime? Do Grimmjow and Ichigo get into a fist fight? Tune in next time on The Power of Sacrifice to find out! Anyways, you know the drill; read, review, etc.<em>

_**WE LOVE YOU! GOODNIIGGGHHHTTTT!**_


	4. Brawl

_Hello everyone! I'm just going to say that all the reviews so far have really motivated me to continue writing this! Thanks guys! You're awesome!  
>I'm on vacation right now so it may take me a while to update the Power of Sacrifice again... I know, it's sad. Any who, I think you guys will like this chapter. It was super fun to write and I hope you guys approve!<em>

**The Power of Sacrifice**

Chapter 4: Brawl

Grimmjow power-walked to Orihime's porch in order to beat her there in time to see her bitchy boyfriends' worried look turn into one of disgust. Grimmjow skipped a step between stairs, getting there faster and locking into an intimidating stance in front of the teenager. "Well if it isn't the little shithead from this morning..."

Ichigo met his challenge and glared at him with fire in his eyes. "Are you looking for a fight, you cotton candy haired bastard?"

Cotton candy? Grimmjow got dissed a lot because of his hair color, but he had never heard cotton candy before. Either way, it made him all the more riled up. "Come on then, give me your best shot pretty boy. I bet you hit like a bitch."

That set Ichigo off, he lunged at Grimmjow, swinging his fist to collide with Grimmjow's face. He easily dodged it, if he couldn't evade a hit from a weakling like this; there was no way he could survive in the mafia. He crouched down on his haunches and swung his leg out to knock Ichigo's out from under him. He stood and hiked up his leg to stomp down on Ichigo's torso, but Ichigo rolled out of the line of fire in time to dodge it and jumped back up.

_'His speed is a little faster than a normal persons, he must be in sports.'_ That would explain the tackle Grimmjow just received. As he was thrown to the ground, the wind was knocked out of him. He forced his knees into Ichigo's abdomen and pushed him over to the side. Faster than Ichigo could compose himself, Grimmjow had him pinned to the ground and was on top of him, holding him by his shirt collar and pulling his arm back to deliver the finishing blow.

But as he pulled it back, his arm as caught in a tight and shaking grip. He whipped his head around to see Orihime clinging to his arm, fresh tears in her eyes.

"Grimmjow! Stop it! Let him go!" He had begun to really hate seeing her cry. And this time, he was the cause of it. Grimmjow growled and let go of Ichigo's shirt, he stood and looked away scowling. Orihime was still attached to his arm, not seeming to notice that she was. Ichigo sat up and looked at her, anger and embarrassment showing on his face.

"Orihime, _I do not _want him staying with you! He just attacked me!"

_'Actually you swung at me first..._'

Orihime looked at the floor, twisting Grimmjow's sleeve in her hands. " I'm sorry Ichigo, but he has to stay here for a while. There's nothing I can do about it." Her voice was unsteady, Grimmjow really wanted to punch that carrot top in the face.

"I want him the hell out of here! He's dangerous! Don't you see that I'm trying to protect you?"

She flinched._ 'You are so fucking lucky that I would go to jail if I killed you, fuckface.'_ He could feel her shaking, since she was still attached to his arm._ 'Does she ever plan on letting go?...You like it...Shut the fuck up voice, your comments are not wanted.'_ She lifted her head and spoke with a determined voice.

"I'm sorry, but he's staying. It's not your decision to make, now if you would please leave..." Grimmjow grinned in triumph, _'Oohhhhh what now bitch?'_

Ichigo scoffed and walked down the stairs leading off her porch, calling behind him; "you can call me when you've come to your senses." and he disappeared down the street.

Orihime heaved a big sigh, and then turned to Grimmjow. "Take your shirt off."

Grimmjow was stunned; he just stared at her for a few beats. She blushed and laughed nervously after she realized what she had said and what he must have thought. "N-no, not like that! I mean..." She pointed to his arm that she was still currently holding. "You opened your stitches..."

Grimmjow looked down to see blood staining his shirt, and then the pain hit him. "Holy Fuck!" He sucked in air and pulled his sleeve up, sure enough, he ripped two of the stitches out of the gaping hole. He had forgotten about the bullet wound during the little fight, and did exactly what the doctor told him not to do.

Orihime touched around the remaining stitches gingerly. "I don't think we can afford another trip to the hospital, so I'll just have to do it myself!"

"What?" Grimmjow paled considerably while Orihime smiled innocently, setting him down at the kitchen table. "Come on don't be such a baby! I've sewed thousands of my sweaters together after they tore, and I fixed Mr. Fuzzykins!" _'Fuzzykins...?_' "So it should be the same, right?" She disappeared in her room, he could hear her rummaging through things, Grimmjow was starting to regret taking the bullet.

"A sweater, or fluffy-whatever is not the same as human skin!"

**XXXXXXX**

Orihime looked down at Grimmjow from her place straddling his hips; she was huffing, her body feeling weak from what they had been doing for the past half hour. A thin sheen of sweat covered Grimmjow's chest and forehead. She bent over, her hair falling in a silky curtain around their faces.

"...Can I stitch up your arm now?" She smiled in silent victory. When she had brought out a needle and thread, Grimmjow had bolted.

"Who knew that you had so much fighting power?" He let her think that she was strong enough to toss him around, but in truth, she was light-years away from his strength.

"...Fine."

**XXXXXXX**

"Hey, Grimmjow?"

"Yea-ow!"

"Oh stop it, that didn't hurt."

"Yeah, I know."

"Um...Can we um... Talk about what's going to happen to me in six months?" She really didn't want to talk about it, but she needed to know.

"It's like I said, in six months I'll take you to Spain and you'll marry the head of our family."

For some reason she wasn't entirely satisfied with that answer. "I meant like... Will I just have the title of being his wife, or will I have to actually _be_ a wife?"

He frowned "What do you mean?"

She pondered for a moment. "Will I have to clean the house, do the laundry, and give him a goodbye kiss will he leaves for work in the morning?"

He was silent for a moment. "Beats me."

She huffed and swatted his arm. "Grimmjow! I'm being serious!"

He flinched and laughed, "So am I! I have no say in whatever happens in six months, my only job is to make sure nothing happens to you before that."

"I have another question."

Grimmjow sighed. She looked at him, pouting. "Okay, what is it?"

She picked up the scissors and cut off the excess string. "When you say _'family_' do you mean that you're a part of an actual family? Like you care for each other and are really close?"

Grimmjow looked at her with a serious face. "No. None of us are '_close_'. We're a group of highly skilled murderers who follow Aizen's orders. Nothing more, nothing less."

That scared her. "What'll happen to me if I refuse to marry him?" Something flashed across his face, though he said nothing, which scared her even more. She needed to sit down. She walked over and plopped down on her couch. Grimmjow stood and joined her. He needed to get her mind off of that last conversation.

He really didn't want to bring this up, but he wanted to know. "Orihime, how come you live alone?"

She looked away from him, as if she was ashamed, or hurt. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

She turned back around and gave him that signature smile. "Oh no! It's okay! It's just that... It's been so long and I haven't really told anyone." She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, "Actually I wasn't alone until a while ago. My mom and dad weren't nice people, so my older brother took me away and raised me. We were happy and things were great, but then a few years ago, he got into a really bad car accident, and he didn't make it."

She didn't notice that she had started crying until he wiped a tear off her cheek with his thumb. She blushed and looked up at him. "All I can say is _'I'm sorry'_, but that wouldn't help anything."

She laughed. "I guess you're right, I really didn't like it when everyone pitied me and treated me like a child... thank you, Grimmjow." She smiled again.

_'God that smile's beautiful...Damnit, I'm not going to last these six months_.'

She shot up off the couch, her mood already on the brighter side. "What do you want for dinner? I'll start cooking!" Grimmjow was scared of what she would cook, judging from what he's seen her eat already, he watched as she turned the corner into her kitchen. He stood and inspected her stitch work. She did it in blue thread, how comical.

The next thing he knew, Orihime was screaming and ran out of the kitchen and jumped into his arms, practically knocking him to the ground. She buried her face in his neck, still screaming.

"What? What happened?"

She pointed towards the kitchen with her face still in his neck. "There's a dead person in my pantry!"

_Another Cliffhanger! -Maniacal evil genius laugh- Who's the dead person? And who put them in her pantry? That's for me to know, and you to keep reading._

_By the way, did Sora die in a car accident or what? I honestly cannot remember that far back in the show. If anyone knows could you please let me know? Much obliged._


	5. Security

_Boy I just love writing cliffhangers. You may not like it, but I sure do. Because I'm wicked like that. Get used to it._  
><em>Also, if you haven't noticed, I've been doing most of the story in Grimjows' point of view, That's because he's one of my favorites, (he's just so damn sexxay) and he's so much easier to write, nobody knows what's actually going on in her head. Plus, it's his job to protect her in this story so he's more of the main character. And as a news flash, I'm a full blooded Texan, so if there's some kinda slang mixed in here or there, it's because I'm doing it unintentionally and just not noticing that I'm doing it. I apologize if it bothers any of yall. Aaanndddd I'm sorry if the characters are a little ooc or whatever it's called. I try. That's all that counts. Now on to the show!<em>

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><p><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> Tite Kubo owns Bleach.

**The Power of Sacrifice**

**Chapter 5**: Security

Sure enough, there was a dead man propped up against the shelves in her pantry. He was guessing that the smell of the food stored inside covered the smell of his decaying body. From the looks of it, he hadn't been dead long. Grimmjow payed no mind to the girl still in shock in the living room, he was too busy trying to figure out how someone managed to get a body inside the girls' apartment without him being aware of the fact. If he had known, the culprits plan wouldn't have gone as well as it just did apparently. Who ever it was, they did a damn good job at being sneaky. Though, from the signs of the body, it couldn't have been done by just one person, there most likely had been two people working together. The next question was why they did it in the first place. There was no way the girl could've gotten on someones' bad side. That orange haired asswipe was too ignorant to take something this far. And random people didn't just go and stick random dead people in random peoples' closets just for the hell of it. You had to be really sick and bored to do that.

The longer he stared at it, the more he began to recognize the mans face. He was huge, a scar going over his right eye and another across the bridge of his nose. He reaked of alcohol and blood, since there was a nice sized bullet hole between his eyes. His clothes you covered in dirt, grease, and blood stains. It was beginning to annoy him how he couldn't quite figure out where he had seen him before. "Hey Orihime, get in here." He could hear her squeak in the other room. "No! I don't want to get near it! Get it out of my kitchen!" She was most likely crying, again. He sighed, "I just need you get in here and see if you recognize him..." She was quiet for a moment. "Do I have to?" he banged the back of his head against the kitchen cabinet. "I'm trying to find out who he is and why he's here, do you want him out of your house?" She sniffled, "y-yes..." good, they were making progress. "Then I need you to come in here and see if you know who he is."

She crept around the corner into the kitchen and looked at him, then to the mystery body. "He's not going to jump out and bite you... Trust me." He meant for that to be a comforting comment, but it didn't seem to work. She inched closer and glanced up at the dead mans face, She looked like she was going to be sick, which he really didn't need at the moment, then her eyes widened and she pointed to the dead guy and jumped up and down. "That's one of the guys from last night! He was the one with the...knife..." she swayed a little, he pushed her gently in the direction of the living room, telling her to sit back down and got her a glass of water. He went back to the body, he knew he had seen him before. He shot this guy not even twenty-four hours ago on the street. But he was sure he had disposed of the three guys when he was sure that she was asleep. He even called the allied family in the area to help. Who would go to the trouble of finding him, and stowing him in the pantry? That question would have to be answered later, he needed to get rid of the body, again. How troublesome.

He didn't want to call that family again, being in debt to them wouldn't go well with the boss. He'd have to improvise. He walked out of the kitchen and into her room, Orihime's curiosity made her follow him. He went into the bathroom and looked at her shower curtain, decorated with exotic fish and bubbles, and plastic, which was what he needed. She watched as he ripped it off the curtain rod, the hooks tearing through the plastic. She gaped at him whe he walked by her. "We'll buy you a new one later." He spread it out on the kitchen floor and started rummaging through the drawers for something. Orihime was at the edge of the kitchen, watching him. "Um...What are you looking for?" He slammed drawers and cabinets shut, "Duc-tape." She turned and went into her room, coming back with a roll of hot pink duc-tape. "...Really." She blushed and rolled it towards him on the floor, seeing as she still wouldn't step foot in the kitchen. He picked it up and set it down on the counter. Afterwards he looked at her, then to the body, and back to her.

"What?" she asked. _'Can she not take a hint?'_ He cleared his throat. "I take it that you don't want to see me move him." Her eyebrows shot up, "Oh! okay so I'll just be over there." she pointed towards the couch and dissapeared behind the wall seperating the kitchen and living room. he turned around back to the task at hand and grabbed the mans coat collar and tugged, making him fall onto the shower curtain with a heavy thud. He then rolled the body up like a taco, and duc-taped the ends sealed, now was the difficult part, getting the body from the kitchen floor to the dumpster around at the back of the apartment complex. It was late afternoon on a saturday, there were bound to be people walking around outside. Though, if they were smart, they wouldn't come up and ask what he was carrying. He grabbed one end and began to drag the body out of the kitchen, She had her head turned the opposite way, looking anywhere but at him. He got to the front door and heaved it up and over his shoulder, maneuvering the lad to be able to fit through the door. He walked down the stairs with no problem, and took the back way to the alley behind the building. He then flipped up the dumpster cover and dumped the body inside, closing it. Piece of cake. When the body was discovered that is, that was a different problem that could be dealt with when it came. The police force was no threat to them anyways. He turned around and started heading back to the apartment.

"Well look who's a big boy. Taking care of things all on his own~"

Grimmjow froze. He new that sickening voice all too well. "What the fuck are you doing here, Nnoitra?" He turned his head to look at the slender man out of the corner of his eye, who was currently leaning against the dumpster with a wide grin on his face, who was his, _"colleague"_, he should say. "I'm only doing what I was told to do."

Grimmjow hated how he never gave a straight answer. "Which is?"

"To see if you have what it takes to fulfill the bosses orders." Another voice, this time it came from in front of Grimmjow, he averted his gaze to see Szayelapporro smirking at him. _'Great, just the people I needed to see during my second day of the job.'_ Nnoitra laughed and waltzed over to him, the grin never leaving his face. "By the looks of it, you don't seem to be doing so well Grimmy~. The boss isn't going to appreciate that." Grimmjow grinned mischeiviously, "And you're going to be a perfect little bitch and tell on me. Wow, the boss has really got you whipped, doesn't he?" Nnoitra's smile dissapeared and a snarl took its place. He grabbed the front of Grimmjow's shirt and got in his face, "You want to repeat that, Fuckface?" Szayelapporro sighed behind them. "Please you two. Your little love affair is making me sick." Nnoitra let go of Grimmjow and whipped around to glare at the man. "Shut the fuck up, we all know you're a fruitcake." Szayelapporro twitched, his features going dark, "I am going to ignore that comment about my sexuality, seeing as it is none of your business." He pushed his glasses up the brdige of his nose and focused back on Grimmjow, "Anyways, we're here because Aizen sent us to give you a little test." It was Grimmjow's turn to glare at him. "You two were the ones who put the body there, weren't you?" Nnoitra laughed, "it wasn't all that hard, seeing how there was a broken window."

_'Damn, I forgot about the fucking window..._' Szayelapporro cleared his throat, "Yes, and you obviously failed the test, seeing how you let the fact that there was a body in the house breeze by you. Aizen will not be pleased." Grimmjow crossed his arms over his chest, "Is that all?" Nnoitra's gaze moved to his shoulder._ 'Shit! I'm still wearing the shirt from this morning...'_ Nnoitra burst out in a fit of laughter, "Holy shit dude, you got shot?" Even Szayelapporro snorted. Grimmjow growled and snapped at him, "Would you shut up? Some guy tried to snipe the girl this morning, explaining the broken window." Nnoitra was still doubled over, laughing hysterically. It was really beginning to piss him off. He hiked his leg up and kicked him, knocking him to the ground, that stopped and laughing and brought back the ugly snarl. Szayelapporro stepped over Nnoitra to closer examine the wound. "What sort of bullet was it?" He lifted up Grimmjows arm and pulled his glasses down to get a better look. "An M24.* And she was attacked last night by three men, one of them being the guy you stuffed in the closet."

Szayelapporro raised his eyebrows and looked at him. "This much already? It's not going to be an easy job. How much longer until she's eighteen?"

Grimmjow grimaced, "Six months..."

He whistled, "Six months of this? I almost feel sorry for you..."

"Asshole..."

"I am well aware of that, thank you. Nnoitra, get up, we're leaving." He turned and left the alley without another word. Nnoitra waved goodbye sarcastically to Grimmjow, "if you survive this, you sure as hell won't make it after this is done. And I'll be there to spit on your grave." Grimmjow flipped him off, "Fuck you, you diseased twig." When the two were out of sight, he turned back to go back to the apartment. they were most likely going to relay everything to Aizen, just what he needed, it was Aizen's own fault for picking him for the job. So he should expect no less. It was still a bad thing though. He sighed as he walked up the stairs.

The sun had begun to set while he was in alley with the unwanted visitors, casting an orange glow over the city. He was already feeling homesick for Spain, the wide, open streets and villas. Everything here was small and crowded. He walked in to see Orihime already fast asleep on the couch, it was understandable, so much that she porbably wasn't used to had happened in a short span of twenty-four hours. She was almost killed, had a stranger move into her house and tell her she was mafia property, had been shot at, been to the hospital, things had gotten rough between her and her boyfriend, and she found a dead guy in her kitchen. Not the normal life of a teenager.

He walked over to the couch and nudged her shoulder, no response. He nudged a bit harder, no response. She was out. He ran his hands over his face, exasperated. She wasn't the only one tired, He had a long day too. What was he supposed to do, sleep on the floor? 'Uncomfortable as fuck. Guess I have no choice.' he slid his arms under her shoulder blades and knees and scooped her up bridal style. he turned on his heel and carried her to her room and lowered her onto the bed. He stood and looked at her, she lookedd so beautiful and serene in her sleep, _'She'd probably be more comfortable in pajamas... Ah hell, just turn around and leave!_' He did. Only to lay on the couch and try to get the images of her out of his head for hours.

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><p><em>Please tell me that I'm not the only one who thinks that the 8th espada, Szayelapporro, is attractive. I don't give a fuck what his sexuality really is, he's nice to look at. I'll probably be able to update this story again soon since school doesn't start for another month, so tell me what you think~ Toodles :3<em>

_* Oh yeah! When he asked what kind of bullet it was I had to go and search for the type of bullets and just picked one, sorry I'm not a gun expert. If you do know, and I was off by a longshot, I apologize._


	6. Back to School

_Sorry guys, I know it's been a while since I've updated this story and I apologize. I started my ulquihime story, and have five other stories started, but I've been going through writer's block and freakin' annoying. So I'm going to try to update The Power if Sacrifice as much as I can, since school for me has started, and who knows when I'll be able to update then. _

_Anyways, I'm going to address some reviews I've gotten since I never did before;_

_Nypsy: I love how you go into depth with your reviews, and most of the time you point out things that even I didn't notice, keep it up. Also, Aizen won't be happy because he doesn't want those things happening at all. And, like I said in Salvation Through Medication, there is NO WAY IN HELL I'm bringing Rukia into this fic. I hate that bitch. (And I apologize again if that offends any of you.)_

_Boobie-chan: Great minds think alike ;) I'm tired of all the Hueco Mundo fics too, so that's why I wrote this. Hope you enjoy it._

_Everyone else: Thank you so much for your great feedback, it warms my heart to see people enjoying what I write, keep the reviews coming! And if you want a shout-out, write something worth responding to._

_Note: Orihime is 17, and I made Grimmjow 23-24. If you don't like that, use your imagination._

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><p><strong>The Power of Sacrifice<strong>

**Chapter 6:** Back to School

Orihime looked at her alarm clock, it was to be going off in five minutes, telling her to start the day. It was Monday. And Monday is a school day. Which meant, in five minutes, she would have to get up, get dressed, and go to school. Usually, she loved Mondays. Mondays were the days that she would go back after the weekend to see all of her friends, talk about what happened over the weekend, and learn new things in class. But not this Monday. No, she dreaded this Monday. This weekend wasn't exactly the best weekend a girl could have. She had been attacked, shot at, found a body in her pantry, and was told that she was potentially engaged to someone she had never met before. And Ichigo. Things were definitely messed up between the two. And what was worse, she had almost all of her classes together with him. She didn't expect him to have the_ Hey, how are you_ attitude with her after what happened this weekend.

And then there was the man currently occupying her living room. Her "_Bodyguard_". What was he going to do? It's not like he could put on a uniform and blend in, he's too mature looking to get away wtih that. Maybe she could ask him to stay home until she got done with school. Orihime frowned, she got the feeling that he would say no or else follow her anyway.

Her alarm clock buzzed, she reached over and clicked the _off_ button. It was time to start her day. She got out of her bed and went into the conjoining bathroom, at least she had privacy. She looked at herself in the mirror, seeing that most of the color had drained from her face and her lips were pulled down in a permanent frown. She didn't like what she saw. She patted her cheeks to flush out some color, and smiled big. Orihime was never known to be depressed, and acting like it would give her away immediately. She had to be happy, and not worry about anything to show her friends that she was alright. She could do this!

With her mood lifted, she took a shower, dressed in her school uniform, and walked out of her bedroom to face the day.

XXXXXXX

"What are you going to do while I'm in class?"

"Beats me."

She frowned, how could he be so calm about everything? During the entire walk to her school, he just sauntered along side her with his hands buried in his jacket pockets and continued staring off into oblivion. When they rounded to corner onto the street where the school resided, she spotted the cheerleading team standing outside of the gate where they all met every morning. Conveniently, every single one of them turned to look in her direction at the same time. She squeaked in horror and turned on her heel to shove an unsuspecting Grimmjow back around the corner.

"Omigosh! I think they saw us!" her hands were pinning him against the brick wall that surrounded the school grounds. _'Mmm, me gusta...'_

"...Is there a problem?" he asked as she peeked around the corner. She pulled back instantly and looked around them, biting her bottom lip. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head. _'What is she up to now?'_ Something clicked in her mind and her features lit up.

"I know!" she moved to his side and rolled up the sleeves on her uniform sweater to her elbows, a look of concentration on her face. "Boost me up over the wall."

He had to refrain from dropping his jaw. "Come again?"

She rolled her eyes and braced her hands on his shoulders. "I can't let them see me right now! So lift me up so I can climb over."

He didn't budge. "You have got to be joking." Her brow furrowed in annoyance. _'She's cute when she's angry.'_

"Just do it! Please?" she gripped his shoulders tighter and put on the best puppy dog eyes she could muster, pouting lips and all. His resolve broke upon seeing that face. Damn, she was good. He sighed and laced his fingers together, bringing his hands down to knee level. Stepping on his hand, he pushed up and she grabbed onto the edge of the stone wall. Using her upper body strength she got from weightroom days during cheer practice, she pulled herself over the wall to drop down to the other side without a scratch on her body nor a tear on her uniform.

If Grimmjow had been someone like Nnoitra, he would've found that the perfect oppurtunity to "_feel her up_". But he was a better man than that... Okay, so what if he looked up her skirt? No big deal.

XXXXXXX

"Hey! Orihime!"

Orihime turned to see her bestest friend in the whole wide world waving and running to catch up to her.

"Hi Tatsuki!" She waved back. Smiling big.

When she reached her, she looked around as if something was missing. "Um, Orihime. Isn't Ichigo usually with you?" Orihime visibly twitched at the mention of his name. Keeping the smile on her face, she lied, "Um, he said he'd be running a little late this morning!" Tatsuki looked over the busty girl's shoulder, pointing.

"But, he's over there with Chad." Ohirime gasped and whipped around, sure enough he was there, with a tree of a highschool student, walking her direction. She quickly looped her arm through Tatsuki's, dragging her down the hall in the opposite direction."Oh well, what do you know! Funny isn't it? Anyway, I can talk to him later. Right now I want to talk to you! So how was your weekend? Great? Really? Mine too! Oh wait, you didn't ask. Silly me!" Her words were rushed as she threw open the door of the nearest girl's bathroom she could find.

"Orihime! What is wrong with you?" Tatsuki tore her arm away from the other, putting her fists on her hips.

"Wrong? There's nothing wrong with me. What would make you think something was wrong with me?" she laughed, the tone of her voice giving it away.

Tatsuki sighed, shaking her head. "Whatever, just... Will you tell me later?"

"She smiled again and hugged her best friend. "Of course I will! How about over some ice cream and sappy romance movies tomorrow after school?"

The athlete grinned, "Sounds fun! And I'm just telling you now. If he did anything to hurt you. _Anything_. I will punch him in the balls."

XXXXXXX

It was just how Orihime had imagined it would be. Ichigo wasn't talking to her. He wasn't even looking at her. She couldn't really blame him though. She would feel really mad too if her significant other chose a total stranger over her. But she had no choice! But she couldn't tell him that either! Gah! Since when did her life get so confusing? Oh yes, that's right, friday night to be exact. She grunted and let her head fall onto her desk just a little too hard. She noticed the teacher had grown quiet and she looked up to see her staring at her.

"Is something wrong, Ms. Inoue?" Orihime sat up straight and waved her hands frantically in reassurance.

"Oh no, there's nothing wrong, I'm fine! Totally fine!" she smiled weakly. The teacher just nodded and continued her lecture. Orihime stole a glance over to Ichigo. His back was to her, and she could tell that his shoulders were tense. A dull ache had begun to form in her chest. She really hated seeing him like this, but deep down she knew it was for the best.

If the whole thing about her being engaged to..._What'shisface_... Was true, then she knew that she would have to break ties with him entirely. The ache grew stronger. She didn't want to marry a complete stranger, she didn't want to move to Spain, she didn't want to lose her friends, or Ichigo. She wished that none of the things that happened over the weekend never happened and everything could go back to the way it was. Although, she wasn't entirely upset with things. She had met _him_. The ache in her chest became a tightening coil. She couldn't honestly say she had_ feelings_ for the blue-haired hothead, but there was _something_ between them. Or was it just her? Surely a guy like _him_ didn't go for girls like_ her_. He's much older anyway. And she hardly knows anything about him! He could be married for all she knows!

Ugh, all this deep thinking was making her head pound. This was going to be a long day.

XXXXXXX

Grimmjow laid out on the roof of the school building, playing _Angry Birds_ on his phone. how long does this school thing take anyway? He was bored out of his mind. _'I want to shoot something. I can't get rusty.'_ He groaned and sat up, crossing his legs and running a hand through his messy blue hair.

Resting his chin on his knuckles, he closed his eyes and thought of all the fun things he could possibly be doing if he wasn't stuck in this godforsaken town. He noticed that his sunlight was being blocked and cracked open an eye to see three sets of dirty, worn out shoes. Glancing up, he saw three boys dressed in the school uniform but they showed skin literally covered in tattoes, piercings, and some of the _worst_ dye jobs he has ever seen. One was fat, and the others seemed to be twins.

The fat one in the middle bent down to his level, he smelled like alcohol and pot._ 'Great, just what I needed, the misfits...'_

"Listen bud, this is our turf so I suggest you get the fuck out of here before me and my friends fuck you up." The fat one grinned, showing stained and crooked teeth. The other two nodded and laughed.

Grimmjow didn't budge. Usually he wouldn't give these punks the light of day, but he had a job to do, so he was staying put. "And I suggest you get your ugly ass face out of mine before I break it..." He glared at the pudgy teen. Who in turn fisted his hands and stood up, towering over the sitting Grimmjow.

"What'd you say bitch?" he was fuming, the other two took a step back, acting like some hard shit was about to go down. Oh, there was, but not the way they're thinking.

"I'm not repeating myself, lard ass." Grimmjow wore a shit eating grin. at least he was getting some sort of entertainment out of this. The fatty dug into his pocket, pulling out a small blade.

"That's it! I'm gonna kick your ass!" He lunged at Grimmjow, who was still sitting down. A split second before the blade could make contact with his eye, Grimmjow leaned to the side, effectively dodging it. The fatty, obviously not experienced in hand to hand combat, stumbled forward. Grimmjow brought his leg up so his knee met with the fat kid's nose, sending him flying in the opposite direction. His body collided with the gate on the roof and he was out cold. Now it was time for the other two. Standing up, Grimmjow brushed off his hands as if nothing happened and waited for the twins to make a move. And of course, they did.

They both looked at eachother, nodded, and charged him. He stood his ground, and when they where in reaching distance, he grabbed them by their shirt collars, brought his arms out, and smashed them into one another. Making them knock their heads together with a sickening crunch. He released his hold and they sunk to the roof. Looking at all three, he determined that they where all unconcious._ 'You've gotta be shitting me. That wasn't even a warm-up.'_ He scoffed and sat back down, pulling out his phone and starting up another round of Angry Birds. He will kill all of those damn pigs, even if it takes him all day.

XXXXXXX

_He watched as the students rushed out of the school from the comfort of his car, watching as the school grounds became vacant. Except for the cheerleading squad in the courtyard. He was previously told that on these days they practiced for a few hours. With the entire squad and coach present, he would never get his target alone. Looking down at the file laying in the passenger seat, he picked it up, opening it and looking at the picture. Glancing back to the squad he searched for the match. Ah, there she was, at the top of the pyramid. He looked back down to the breifcase occupying the floorboard. His money. Half now, half later. His famiglia's boss was right for picking him to do this job. He was rumored to be the greatest assasin in Italy. Even better than those Espada wash-outs from Spain. It was be dishonorable to his name, and to his famiglia if he didn't succeed in this cake-walk of a job. That's why he would do everything in his power to kill this highschool cheerleader, Orihime Inoue, or die trying._

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><p><em>*Me gusta=I like<em>

**_Review, bitches._**


	7. New Teacher

_Good evening lovely patrons, welcome to the seventh chapter of The Power of Sacrifice and this is when the real fun ensues, as in, the story. The first couple chapters where like an opening sort of._

_Bet you were all wondering who that guy was at the end of the last chapter… I know I was. Just kidding, I already know. This chapter picks up exactly where the last left off, so there's no time lapse._

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><p><strong>The Power of Sacrifice<strong>

**Chapter 7:** New Teacher

During the entire routine, Orihime felt as if there were eyes on her. As she was catapulted into the air by the only boy on the squad, she managed to throw a glance to the rooftop of the school building to see a flash of blue. _"Right, I forgot about him…" _she did her air splits just like she had been practicing and was taken by the force of gravity but was caught by said only-male on the team. Everyone, including the coach, which happened to be her homeroom teacher, cheered with joy as the routine was perfected. Though she didn't seem to notice, her gaze drifted back to her temporary companion to see that his gaze wasn't directed at her. She also saw the scowl plastered across his features and his brows furrowed as he stared over the railing's edge at something. She followed his line of sight to the silver sports car parked in the lot next to the field. The windows where tinted so dark that she was sure it had to be illegal, so she couldn't see the person inside.

The car was the only one present in the parking lot. She knew that she shouldn't be worrying; it could be a teacher or something. But she couldn't help but get the chills, still feeling eyes on her.

"Alright guys, that was great! The next game is in two days, and I think you're ready!" The cheer coach clapped happily with a big smile.

Orihime put on a smile and returned the hug another cheerleader was giving her. She glanced over the girl's shoulder to the roof, Grimmjow was gone, she glanced at the parking lot, and so was the car.

"Hey, Orihime!" she turned to see the coach waving at her. Walking over, she stopped in front of her homeroom teacher.

"We're going to go celebrate, why don't you come with us to the pizza place?" She asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

Orihime smiled apologetically, "No, I think I'm just going to go home. I'm not feeling very well." She feigned holding her stomach.

Her teacher frowned and put the back of her hand against Orihime's forehead, "Now that you mention it, you are a little paler than usual… Go home and get some rest." She turned to catch up to her team, yelling over her shoulder, "Also, don't forget you have a research paper due in first period tomorrow, I expect an A+ from yours young lady!"

Orihime laughed softly, she loved how her teacher/coach was so straightforward, and she could honestly say she looked up to the woman. Turning back, she started heading towards the gym's locker room to change out of her uniform.

XXXXXXX

She couldn't get her mind off of the car, knowing it was probably just a car, nothing else; she couldn't shake the dark feeling from her thoughts. '_Odds are I'll probably never see it again. So just forget it.' _The locker room was deserted as she walked through the rows of lockers to hers. The walls adorned the school colors and mascot, and if you stood on top of the lockers, which were also the school colors, you could probably touch the ceiling if you were tall enough. Her locker, of course, was on the far wall, opposite from the door.

She blindly fumbled with the lock on her locker and lightly punched the locker twice, the chipped metal creaking open. The combination never seemed to work, so this is the only way she found it possible to open. She pulled out her gym bag covered with butterflies and cute, cuddly, pink, fluffy bears. Unzipping it, she dug inside for her school uniform's sweater, laying it to the side. She had begun to pull off her cheer uniform's top, when she heard the locker room's door open. She frowned, she watched the team and teacher leave before she came inside, and Grimmjow couldn't possibly know where this room was.

Tugging her cheer uniform's top back down over her torso, she stood silent, listening for something, anything. But there was nothing.

Creeping forward a little, she called out, "Hello?"

No answer.

Then she heard footsteps. Slow, almost quiet footsteps, getting louder by the second. Her blood went cold; this was just like in that horror movie Ichigo made her watch a couple weeks ago. Looking around quickly to find anything and use it as a weapon, she didn't see anything handy. Where's a lead pipe when you need one? Hearing the footsteps get closer, she pulled off her tennis shoes and slid on the tiled floor towards the adjacent hallway from her side of the locker room, going deeper into the school's recreational center. Taking the first right she came to, she barreled through the double doors into the swim team's practice room. The room was completely dark except for the dim pool lights within the water.

Looking around, she thought she could squeeze underneath the bleachers, but the janitor had already come in and pushed them against the wall to clean. Running around the edge of the pool, she threw herself against another pair of doors only to find that it was locked. She heard the audible click of the doors she just came through open. Seeing a box located on the wall beside the doors she was currently against, she reached over and flipped it open, quickly reading the labels and turned the pool lights off. Seeing the water go dark, she crawled to the edge of the pool's deep end and held on to the swimmer's starting block while slowly lowering her shaking body into the cold water. Sucking in a big gulp of air, she sunk halfway to the bottom, being sure to stay flush against the tiled wall.

Looking up through the water, she saw a dark, tall figure walk around the pool's edge. She couldn't make out any facial features or clothes through the cloudy water, and the fact that the room was completely dark didn't help either. He continued walking and Orihime had to cover her mouth and nose to stop air bubbles from escaping to the surface. When he disappeared behind her, she stayed completely still, the need for air slowly starting to grow.

After what seemed like ages, she came up, gasping for much needed air and clung to the pool's edge. Coughing, her gaze darted around the quiet, except for her heavy breathing, and dark room to see that she was indeed alone. Pulling herself out of the water with shaking limbs, she stood, light headed, and began running towards the doors she came through. Rushing out through the double doors with her eyes closed, she slipped on the dry tiled floor and barreled into a solid figure, sending them flying. Said figure grabbed her arms and she tossed her head back and forth as she screamed, hitting and kicking like crazy, creating a tangle of limbs on the hallway floor.

Finally breaking free after connecting her fist with the man's jaw, she scrambled to stand and began running again only to be caught around the waist and yanked back.

"No! Let me go!" Still screaming and kicking, she clawed at the arms around her waist, thrashing wildly.

"Orihime, calm down! It's me, it's me!" Turning as much as she could in the tight grasp, she saw familiar blue hair and a confused expression.

Her trembling body went slack in his arms, her head hanging low and hidden by a curtain of dripping wet sunset hair. She pushed weakly at his arms still around her waist, getting the message, he loosened up and she turned to bury her face in his chest, hot tears running down her face.

"What happened? And why are you soaking wet?"

She spoke with a shaking voice; "M-man… chasing… p-pool…" the rest of her explanation was muffled in his chest.

Grimmjow sighed, "Come on, let's get you home." He stepped back and bent his arm behind her knees, picking her up bridal style, and began walking down the hall towards the exit.

They failed to notice the pair of eyes watching their every step.

XXXXXXX

'_Shitfuck… I'm such a shitty bodyguard. I leave to check out the parking lot for not even five minutes and somebody almost grabs her, again. I told Boss I wasn't cut out for this goddamned job…"_ Grimmjow rubbed his now bruised jaw and looked over to the girl currently sitting next to him on the couch, curled up in a ball with a huge fluffy blanket, staring blankly at the television. She had taken a shower to rid of the chlorine and her hair was completely dry. Though she hadn't spoken a word and wouldn't stop shaking. He couldn't blame her, from what he had managed to get out of her while they were still back at the school, a man was chasing her. While she was alone. Without him.

He had to give her credit for making the smart decision of hiding in the pool, and he knew, from experience, that hse could throw a good punch for a girl her size, but he still felt like hitting himself for leaving her side. At this rate, she was_ bound_ to get taken. This made his stomach flip. He now knew that he couldn't live with himself if he let her get hurt. _'Fuck… what have I gotten myself into?'_

He turned to face her direction, "Orihime, you have to tell me everything that happened. _Everything_."

She met his gaze finally. Sighing, she pushed herself up to a sitting position, and told him everything that happened, from going into the locker room, to running into him head first.

"…So you didn't get a good look at this guy?"

She shook her head.

It was his turn to sigh; now he had nothing to go on. "Alright, this means that you come to me and tell me what you're going to do from now on. I don't give a damn if it's something small. And you're just going to have to deal with me coming into the locker room with you." He smiled a cat-like grin. "I promise not to peek."

She cracked a smile. Good, at least he got some sort of emotion from the usually bubbly girl instead of nervousness and anxiety.

She threw the cover off of her and stood from the couch, "I think I'm just going to go to bed early tonight. See you tomorrow Grimmjow, have a nice sleep."

And with that, she bent down to kiss his forehead lightly and walked off to her room, shutting the door behind her.

Grimmjow sat still on the couch for a couple seconds, _'Great, there goes another sleepless night…'_

He stood and walked to the front door, stepping out onto the front porch; he pulled out his phone and called who would probably be the last person he wanted to talk to at this hour. Or ever, actually.

After a couple rings, the other line was picked up.

"What is it, asshole?"

"Shut the fuck up and do me a favor, fruitcake."

"…It's Szayelapporro, douchebag. And what the hell do you want?"

Grimmjow pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket, "I need you to look up a license plate number for me."

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds, "…What do I get out of this?"

"A punch in your fucking ugly face."

"As much as that sounds exciting, no. I want something that'll benefit me."

"Like what?"

"I want that new sniper rifle we saw on the internet the other day."

"That bitch is twenty grand! Fuck that!" he had to admit, it was a nice piece of equipment that he wouldn't mind having for his own.

"Then good luck finding out about that license plate. Ciao."

"Okay okay! I'll buy you the damn fucking gun…."

"Much better. I told you I could make you bend to my will."

"Fag."

His comment went ignored as he heard distant clicking of a keyboard in the background. The voice on the opposite end came back with a sound of annoyance, "What's the number?"

Grimmjow read off the combination of letters and numbers to the self-proclaimed genius.

"So, how's that little girly of yours? She sleep with you yet?"

Grimmjow felt a stiffness coming from his nether regions, "Didn't I tell you to shut the fuck up earlier?"

He could hear laughter on the other side; of course the nut was enjoying this. The laughter ended abruptly to turn into a confused noise.

"What? What'd you find?"

"Nothing."

"Seriously dickhead, what is it?"

"Exactly what I said, nothing! It's not in the system."

"What do you mean it's not in the system?"

"Come on Grimmjow, are you that dense? It's not in the system as in it's not _real_."

Grimmjow stared at the slip of paper in his hand quizzically, "You better fucking check again, the car it was connected to looked pretty real to me."

"I already double checked it! Absolutely nothing came up on the screen."

"…sonuvabitch."

"I'm dreadfully sorry." Szayel spoke with a mock sympathetic tone. "By the way, Boss wants you to call in and report to him tomorrow. I'm going back to bed. Adios ~" and with that, he hung up.

Grimmjow sighed out of frustration and trudged back into the house, plopping down on the couch. He managed to get absolutely no sleep, too busy thinking about the car and the potential threat chasing after his girl.

XXXXXXX

Orihime sat at her desk during first period, commonly known as homeroom, and stared at nothing in particular while the girls around her where chatting up a storm. Class was supposed to start exactly ten minutes ago and the teacher was nowhere to be seen. Her brow furrowed, her teacher was always known for her punctuality, though it didn't seem to bother any of the other students since this meant they got more time to socialize.

She, though it was a against her will, casted a quick glance to her right to see Ichigo laughing about something the class clown Keigo said. He still wasn't talking to her, of course, but that was to be expected.

She was still a little frazzled from the night before, and tired from the lack of sleep as well. She couldn't get the man out of her mind. She had this feeling in her gut that she was going to see him again. And soon.

Pushing the scary thoughts clear from her mind, she couldn't help but overhear two of the girls standing next to her desk.

"Did you hear? Evidently they found a dead body in the river this morning!" The first girl exclaimed with excitement.

"No way! That's so creepy! Did they find out who it was?"

"No, not yet. They said it was a middle aged woman, but her body was so badly torn up that they couldn't identify it!"

"Eeeyyuuuwwww!" the second girl was waving her hands around as if she had just seen a spider.

Orihime got a cold feeling; she never liked blood and death. But then again, who did?

The two girls were silenced, along with everyone else, as the classroom door was pushed open.

A man walked into the room with a hurried pace, mumbling something like an apology for being late and the reason being the traffic.

Throwing his suit jacket off and laying it on the desk to reveal a pristine white dress shirt with a silk black tie, and (Orihime couldn't help but notice) evident signs of built muscles underneath the shirt. He laid his briefcase on top of his suit jacket and stood, arms crossed, looking over the students seated in front of him, his face blank. His gaze landed on Orihime, and stayed, his heated stare making her fidget.

"Hello everyone. I am your temporary, if not permanent, new teacher. Byakuya Kuchiki."

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><p><em>I would like to know what you guys think of this new turn of events. Review.<em>


	8. Unknown and Unfamiliar

_I'm back, motherfuckers. Renewed and finally picking up wherever the hell I left off. I had almost given up on this story, but I felt bad for just leaving it alone, since it was a first for me._

_I guess we'll all have to see how this plays out._

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><p><strong>The Power of Sacrifice<strong>

**Chapter 8: **Unknown and Unfamiliar

There was an onslaught of hushed whispers and gasps after the supposedly new teacher addressed himself. It honestly was an unexpected surprise, to say the least. The girls were starting to say things like _'he's handsome'_, and '_we lucked out'_ and whatnot, but all Orihime could do was blatantly stare at the new teacher. She couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was, but she had a feeling in her gut that something was off.

"Silence." His voice wasn't even close to a yell, but his tone had so much power behind it that every student immediately shut up.

"Now I know you are probably all wondering what happened to your previous mentor." He gave a slight pause, and everybody leaned in, expecting an explanation. "Unfortunately, I do not have the answer to that."

There were many disappointed noises made, which he ignored. "We're going to pick up where she left off. Everyone, open your text books to page five-hundred and thirty-two."

And so, the school day continued, like normal. No matter how hard she tried, Orihime couldn't shake the bad feeling she had.

**XXXXXXX**

It was lunch period and Orihime was currently scaling the stairs up to the roof, where her companion would be waiting. She had successfully managed to start a rumor that spread like a virus around the school that said mysterious things had been happening on the rooftop, and students were turning up missing. In turn, now nobody dared to go up to the roof so her living secret was safe up there during the school day.

Opening the door, she turned and walked to the back of the opening and sat down next to her live-in bodyguard. "I packed you a regular ham sandwich, like you requested." She handed him the brown paper bag and rummaged through her school bag for her own food. She got a hum of acknowledge as a silent _'thank you'._

She successfully fished out her pickled plums and bean paste from her back and began to eat in silence. He guessed her really was never going to get used to her bizarre eating habits. A full five minutes of tense silence had passed and Grimmjow finally couldn't handle it anymore, "Is there something on your mind?"

She blinked, as if she was just snapped out of a trance, and looked at him. Glancing back at the scenery of the city in front of her, she spoke quietly, "Actually… Never mind, it's not important."

"It must be important if you're not talking. I can never get you to shut up." She gasped and swatted his shoulder lightly, Grimmjow pretended to be mortally wounded by the blow and made a sound of sheer pain and fell over onto his side, clutching his arm.

"Oh my gosh! Grimmjow I'm so sorry! Did I hit your wound?" She was leaning over him with a look of absolute terror and worry, making his poker face break as he began to laugh.

"Wrong arm, babe."

Her face scrunched in annoyance and she moved away from him, crossing her arms in a pout. "That's not funny! I thought you were seriously hurt!"

When he sat back up, he raised his eyebrows.

"Just because you're in a gang doesn't mean you're ultra-super powerful."

"Mafia."

She threw her arms up in the air. "Same thing."

She looked at her pink, rhinestone wristwatch. "Lunch is over, so I guess I'll be heading back to my class now." She stood up and began to leave, but stopped shortly and turned back to him, digging in her bag again. She pulled out a book and handed it to him.

_The Notebook. _

"What the hell is _this_?"

She put on a smile, "Well since you're sitting up here all day with nothing to do, I thought I might be able to find something for you. That's an all-time favorite of mine."

"Gee. Thanks."

She obviously missed the sarcasm drenching his voice. "You're welcome! I'll see you again during cheer practice, bye!" And with that, she left with a wave.

When she turned around the corner, Grimmjow looked down at the book in his hands. He hadn't read a book since… Ever. And by the looks of it, it was cheesy as hell. He dropped the book next to him was a snort and laid out to take yet another catnap in the sun.

**XXXXXXX**

Orihime's brows drew together in confusion; the day just keeps giving her more surprises. Standing in front of her was none other than Mr. Kuchiki, wearing a windbreaker with the school colors and a whistle in his mouth. He stated at the beginning of practice, when he had walked out of the coach's office, that since the homeroom teacher he took over for was also the cheerleading coach, he would also presume that charge as well.

It was unknown how the team would adapt to the change, since they've had the same coach all four years of high school, but so far, it wasn't going very well. He had said that instead of practicing the cheer for the next football game, which they usually did out on the field, that they would be doing military workouts in the gymnasium.

Orihime seemed to be the only one brave enough to say something, "B-but, Mr. Kuchiki… The game is next Tuesday; wouldn't it be better if we practiced like normal?"

She automatically regretted speaking out when she received a very hard, silent stare from the elder. She had to break eye contact and fidget in place. She felt like his eyes were burning into her, and the high scrutiny made her extremely nervous.

"That would be the normal case, Ms. Inoue. But it occurred to me that every single one of you girls are out of shape." Gasps and scoffs ensued, which he blatantly ignored. "The only way to perfect a routine, is to perfect the body. Now, three sets of Jumping Jacks."

**XXXXXXX**

Tiredly dragging herself out of the locker room, Orihime met with Grimmjow in the parking lot.

"What the hell happened to you?"

She gave him a weak smile, she was definitely going to be achy in the morning, "The new coach just put us through some new practice."

"What happened to your old coach?" He had to slow down from his usual stride in order to maintain pace with her.

"I don't know. I think she went on vacation." She had put her hair up in a bun during practice since it was sticking to her neck from all of the sweat. She would have taken a longer shower, but didn't want to leave him waiting too long; she'd just have to do it when she got home.

**XXXXXXX**

It was eleven o'clock in the evening and Orihime had taken a long, soothing bath and gotten into bed. As the night had progressed, overcast had formed in the sky, covering the moon in dark clouds, creating an ominously dark setting in her room. The only source of light in her room was coming from her alarm clock next to her bed.

Normally, Grimmjow would also be asleep on the couch, but not tonight. His gut instinct was telling him that something was up, and in his line of work, you learn to trust your gut instinct. He made another secure walkthrough of the apartment and looked through the windows to the outdoors. Nothing was out of the ordinary.

Just as he was making his way back to the couch, he heard a loud crash coming from the direction of Orihime's room. Grabbing his gun off of the coffee table and kicked her door open, gun drawn. His hand flew to the wall, switching on the light, and saw Orihime on the floor against the wall adjacent to him, breathing heavily and staring at the open window.

Catching on, Grimmjow moved to the window and leaned against the wall looking outside. He aimed his gun down the road when he saw a dark figure round the corner, disappearing. After a moment passed, he looked at the window pane and could tell that the window had been forced open from the outside. Sliding it shut, he pulled the curtain back into its original place and put his gun into the waistband of his jeans.

Slowly making his way over to the still shaking girl, Grimmjow determined that the crash he heard was the bedside table falling over and all of the things it was holding sent flying haphazardly. When he kneeled down to Orihime's side, he reached out to touch her, but she visibly flinched, her eyes producing fresh streams of tears. Putting his hands up parallel to his head, he waited until her eyes had slid shut and moved an arm underneath her knees and around her shoulders.

Picking her up bridal style, he sat on the bed and rested her against his chest, wrapping his arms around her as she trembled and choked back sobs. There was definitely no way he was getting an explanation from her tonight, so he might as well deal with it.

It was a good hour or two before she managed to slightly calm down and finally fell asleep against him, he had begun to absentmindedly stroke her sunset hair as he thought over and over, _'I fucking suck at my job.'_

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><p><em>I'll try to begin updated regularly again, I really do apologize for such a long wait for this, and you could say I had writer's block from hell. Review.<em>


	9. Educated Guesses

Three weeks. It's been three weeks since anything remotely exciting had happened. After the creepy shadow on the street that one night, everything just seemed to fall back into its regular schedule. Orihime had no hiccups in school, and Grimmjow was doing his best at trying to be a good bodyguard. He hardly ever let her out of his sight. Surprisingly enough, no one had caught on to him lingering on school grounds every day. The both of them were having peaceful nights of sleep, and Orihime was slowly chipping away at his harsh exterior to find that he was a really caring man, even under his almost permanent scowl.

She noticed one night, while she crept into the kitchen for a midnight snack, that his face looked the most peaceful in his sleep. His right arm was thrown across his eyes, while the other was thrown across his torso. She didn't fail to notice his shirt riding up either, but she quickly averted her gaze. She also noticed that he was sleeping in jeans. She had been doing his laundry along with hers ever since he got here, and she realized that he only had maybe three sets of clothes and two jackets. She thought it would be a good idea to take him clothes shopping one weekend.

She was also learning more about him, and vice versa. One day, while she was cooking her norm of rice and bean paste dumplings, she heard him grumble while bent over the open refrigerator door.

"_What's wrong?"_

"_Nothing. Though I wouldn't kill for some regular food for once." _

At that he had pushed the metal door shut and left the kitchen. She mulled over it while cooking and realized that he probably meant "home food", as in Spanish food. She'd never cooked a Spanish dish before, seeing as she had no desire to.

She was sitting in class on present day, staring at the window per usual, when the idea hit her. Why doesn't she cook him something Spanish as a small, and lacking, thank you for being her protector this past month and a half? She knew it wasn't a huge feat, but it was something, wasn't it?

The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. She waved to her friends that passed by in the hallways, all heading towards the exits and their own homes. She met up with Grimmjow on the edge of the school grounds and they walked in a comfortable silence back to her apartment. She had grown used to the stares they would get while walking home together. She locals still didn't get used to seeing the six foot tall, cyan-haired ruffian walking with the innocent Orihime. Though she didn't mind, she wouldn't trade their time together for the world.

She blushed at the thought, it was a couple days ago when she started to feel as if she was growing more than a few feelings towards him. She noticed when her mind started showing signs of a girly crush, like whenever they made eye contact, her heart would flutter. Or when their arms would accidentally brush against each other, her skin would feel as if it was on fire. She tried her best to keep her foolish emotions at bay and well hidden, but a girl could only take so much.

She was snapped out and back into reality when they were standing in her living room, her body was on autopilot during the trek and she had robotically climbed the stairs and unlocked the front door.

He started walking towards her room and threw over his shoulder, "I'm going to hit the shower."

Oh yeah, that too. He had begun using the only bathtub in the house, which was inside the master bedroom. Just the thought of a man using her shower sent goose bumps across her arms. Not to mention the fact that he had gone out and bought some men's body wash and shampoo that smelled _fantastic. _She only knew this because she sneaked a whiff one day whilst taking a shower herself. Not to mention it assaulted her nostrils during the day when she was within a five foot proximity of him during the day too, only it was added with his on signature musky manliness.

She made a hum of acknowledgement and set her stuff down on the coffee table. When she sat down on the couch to relax, she looked down onto the cushions to see the body indentations made from Grimmjow sleeping on it every night. She winced when she remembered him complaining about neck pains one day. She knew it must not have been comfortable to sleep on a cramped couch all the time. She felt so guilty to not have anything else to offer. She blushed when the thought of sharing her bed arose and immediately dashed it out of her mind. That was highly inappropriate!

She heard the telltale sound of running water and concluded that he had gotten in the shower. She gasped as an idea popped into her head. She could run to the grocery store really quickly and get the ingredients to make a surprise dinner for him while he was in the shower! She bolted upright and grabbed her purse, jogging to the front door. Only to halt with her hand hovering over the doorknob.

He'd freak out if he entered the living room to find her gone.

She backtracked to the kitchen and pulled a pad of sticky noted from a drawer and a pen, scribbling away quickly and slapping it onto the fridge. Then she was out the door.

**XXXXXXX**

Grimmjow stood in the shower's spray and let the hot water cascade down his body. He was extremely exhausted. He couldn't understand why though, nothing had happened in the past few weeks, absolutely nothing. Maybe it was because he wasn't getting enough sleep. He stayed up every night waiting for some creep to try and sneak in, or stressing over how he was going to manage to continue doing this for the next four and a half months. Maybe it was just because his body was sore from sleeping on that godforsaken sofa.

He sighed and reached for the body wash. He always had to try his best to avoid her corner of the shower, for fear of getting another raging hard-on from the scents of her strawberry shower gel and hibiscus shampoo. He had to turn to turn the knob to the coldest setting after he made that mistake. He began to lather his body, trying his best to work out the muscle kinks when his hand skated over the scarring lump on his left bicep. He remembers getting his newest scar from when he first protected her from a bullet to the skull his second day on the job. Her makeshift stitching only lasted for a night, then they had to make another trip to the hospital for the real deal, lest he chance a severe infection. It had already scabbed over over time and had closed, now forming another scar to add to the myriad already littering his body. He smirked at the memory and then scowled.

He was seriously getting too deep into this shit. It was only making his job harder. Not to mention the things the naïve girl was doing to him, unintentionally. He had to reign in his carnal urge to pin her against the closest surface and have his dirty way with her. He would have done it already, had it not meant both their demise. He had started to take is job of protecting her more personally, than just doing his duty. The mere thought of her getting harmed set him on edge. The lack of anything happening was beginning to make him anxious. Like something huge and devastating was going to happen, and he felt nearly hopeless to do anything to stop it.

In summary, Grimmjow felt royally fucked up.

He finished lathering up his body and rinsed off, doing the same to his hair. He shut off the water and pulled back the flowery shower curtain, grabbing the dark purple towel from the rack and drying off. He pulled on some dark wash jeans and a black V-neck that stretched tightly across his chest and upper arms. Which also brings to light that he had yet to find a goddamned gym anywhere to help stay in shape. He could stand and bang his head against to wall with all of the problems he was facing.

He stepped out of the bathroom, shaking the water out of his hair with a towel. This was a time of day that always brightened his mood. He _loved _tormenting Orihime with his wet hair hanging in front of his eyes. He knew it did something to her, he could see it like a beacon flashing across her features. Ever since he first noticed, he made an effort to let his hair dry naturally. The thing is…

She was nowhere to be seen.

He froze in the middle of the living room, trying to hear anything with his trained ears.

Not a peep.

It wasn't as if she was in another room in the apartment; since it was literally just the living room, kitchen, and bedroom. He was just in the bedroom, she wasn't. He looked through the opening into the kitchen, she wasn't there either. His blood began to run cold as all different kinds of scenarios started running through his mind. He dropped the towel and quickly made it to his leather jacket, which was thrown across the kitchen table's chair, which housed his pistol. He through it on and made a beeline for the front door when something caught his eye.

He slowly turned back around to the fridge, spotting a pink piggy sticky note on the metal door. He had to count to ten after he read:

_I'm running an errand and will be back in a jiffy! _

_Love, Orihime :)_

"Mother fucker." He ripped the sticky note off of the fridge and shoved it into his jacket pocket, now making another beeline to the door. He aggressively shoved his feet into his boots and threw the door open, making it bang into the wall.

"I'm going to have to put a fucking leash on this girl."

**XXXXXXX**

Orihime scanned the aisles of the local supermarket for ingredients. She decided to go with the most well-known and generic Spanish dish she could think of, which was spaghetti. She haphazardly jotted down everything that she _assumed_ went into spaghetti and was throwing it into her hand basket. She had already gotten the pasta noodles, and now she was looking at the array of sauce choices presented to her. There was a large selection of flavors and she had no idea which to choose.

She gave a hum of thought, "Maybe since he has such an explosive personality, maybe he likes his food spicy?" She was giving the saying _'going out on a limb' _a whole new meaning with her thought process and made an educated guess, grabbing a jar and tossing it in the basket. She realized while she was here that she would need to stock up on more salt and pepper, which she should find in the next aisle. She rounded the corner and was met with a brick wall of a chest and stumbled back. Her eyes as squeezed shut and she let out a squeal as she braced herself for the inevitable fall flat out on her butt, if it weren't for the hand that shot out to grab her wrist.

She wrenched one eye open and gasped on shock.

**XXXXXX**

'_I swear upon my life, if I don't find her, I'm going to kill her myself.'_ Grimmjow was stalking the streets for any sign of the sunset haired girl. He'd checked the park, the strip mall, all of the closest restaurants, the river, dark alleyways, and came up empty every time. His heartbeat was pulsing erratically now and he was sure he looked hell-bent. The trace was becoming cold, and his patience was beginning to thin. He knew for a fact that no one had taken her, there's no way any trained hitman would be stupid enough to attack in broad daylight. It was the trouble of finding her that was getting to him.

He scanned the entrances to all of the shops he passed by, and stopped when he was in front of the supermarket. He stomped through the automatic doors and looked left and right, earning more than a few awkward stares, shaking them off instantly when he spotted her. He could only see her back as she was standing at the foot of an aisle, but he knew it was her, the height and long hair clicking in his mind. It was as if smoke was curling out of his nostrils, his lips pulled back in a snarl and showing his pearly whites, as he walked to stand directly behind her and stop almost on top of her.

His chest pushed her back and she stumbled forward, letting out a startled noise and reeling to catch her balance. She rubbed her back and turned to look at him, her pout disappearing as she saw the look on his face.

"What could have possibly been going through your head, when you thought that just up leaving was a _good idea_?" he spoke in a rushed and whispered voice as he grabbed her upper arms and lightly shook her. She flinched, but from the anger seething off of him, not from pain; since he wasn't causing any. She opened her mouth to speak but was cut off.

"No, don't talk. You don't get to talk. Do you have any idea what you just did to my mental stability, girl? You're going to be the death of me one day!" He was still silently screaming at her, in the middle of a grocery store.

She waited until he didn't give any signs of whispering again until she squeaked, "Dinner…?"

It was his turn to open his mouth but not say anything. He glanced down to the hand basket on the floor next to her only for his vision to go black as her hand shot up to cover his eyes.

"No! You can't look! It's a surprise." She had to stand on her tip toes to cover his eyes, she kicked the basket farther to be shielded behind her legs as she leaned flush against him.

Oh, if only Grimmjow could count the ways his body was positively reacting to hers.

She pushed against his chest with her free hand, her palm scorching his pectoral under his shirt. "Go wait outside the exit until I'm ready go to back home."

"Like hell I will! What point of 'I can't let you out of my sight' do you not understand!?" He grabbed her wrist that was covering his eyes and tried to pull it away, but her other hand raised to cover the hand on her wrist, effectively stopping him.

"_Please_, Grimmjow?"

'_Oh no, not the begging. She's probably doing the face too.' _She had pulled something like this before when he wouldn't give into her request. It was something like getting him to watch some chick flick with her. She probably was doing the face, but he wouldn't know since he still couldn't see.

"…Fine."

He heard her giggle and allowed her to push him in the opposite direction towards the exit. Where he waited until she walked out with a brown paper bag and walked her back home, his anger already melting away at the sight of her smile.

**XXXXXXX**

"Dinner's ready!"

Grimmjow locked his phone screen and stood from the couch, stretching. He had gotten a text message from the bubblegum haired retard that read:

_Expect a surprise in two days_

The message twisted his gut, there was no telling what the unpredictable freak was up to. But he brushed it off as something to deal with at a later date as he drifted into the kitchen. A smell roamed into the living room a while ago and he could already tell what she was cooking, but didn't want to rain on Orihime's parade and ruin the surprise. So when he walked up to the counter where the food was set up, he put on a show of being impressed.

"Spaghetti, huh. Honestly, I have to say it's a sight for sore eyes." He took a bowl from the cupboard and served himself, smothering the noodles in sauce and grabbing four out of five pieces of garlic bread. He sat at the kitchen table where Orihime was already sitting with her own bowl, though it looked like there was a brown glob of someth-

'_For the love of everything holy, please don't let that be peanut butter.'_

He sat next to her instead of across from her unintentionally. Well, maybe a little intentionally.

"Can I ask why you decided to go to all of that trouble to make this tonight?" He thought he might as well strike up a conversation, also to know why she had almost given him a hernia.

"Well… Um… You see. I noticed that you looked kind of tired with the food choices that were here so I thought it'd be nice to make something for you from your home country. As, you know, a small token of my gratitude for everything you've done for me so far." She had a genuine smile on her face that made him stop mid-process of slurping some pasta into his mouth. Not to mention _spicy _pasta. Jesus, how much spice did she put in this thing? He could take the heat, but it was close to unbearable.

But the fact that she went out of her way to do something nice for him made his brain come to a screeching halt. '_Way, way, way too deep buddy.'_

All he could manage was a muffled thanks from around his pasta and continued to dig in. They ate in comfortable silence for a few moments until Grimmjow decided to speak.

"Not to be a stick in the mud, but you do know that spaghetti is an Italian food, right?"

Her fork falling on the floor was enough answer for him.

* * *

><p><em>Over a year of not updating this, no words can amount to how sorry I truly am. <em>


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